LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday he will call for more than $100 million in additional funding for Medicaid and $55 million for public schools when he presents his balanced budget proposal next week.

Beebe said the money for Medicaid is needed to cover the program’s growth in the state and that the increase would have been greater if a shortfall in that program had occurred. Beebe announced last month that the state would avoid a previously projected shortfall of between $60 million and $80 million in the program for the budget year that begins July 1.

“That was always contemplated,” Beebe said of the $100 million funding increase. “Had the shortfall materialized in the fashion we were worried about commencing July 1, you’d still have this increase. This is basic accessibility and cost.”

The added money for schools is based on lawmakers’ recommendations on the amount needed to adequately fund education in the state, he said.

“It’s pretty flat,” Beebe said of his budget before speaking at the Arkansas Municipal League’s winter conference in downtown Little Rock.

The increases are part of a $4.7 billion budget Beebe’s office will unveil to lawmakers Tuesday. Legislators begin budget hearings that day in preparation for the fiscal session that convenes Feb. 13.

The Department of Finance and Administration said in its forecast for the coming fiscal year that Arkansas will bring in $4.7 billion, which is $161 million more than is expected this fiscal year.

Beebe also said he will seek more money for the state’s prisons and some universities, but said the increases will not be comparable to the hikes he’s seeking for schools or Medicaid.

“It’s really targeted for equity, so it’s not across the board,” Beebe said, without providing specifics on the amounts or schools included in the proposal.

Joint Budget Committee Co-Chairman Gilbert Baker later said the governor was proposing about $3 million additional funding for colleges and universities.

Baker said he was pleased that the governor would not have to request as much as originally thought for Medicaid, but said lawmakers will likely want more details on a plan to control costs in the program.

Federal officials last year gave Arkansas permission to explore changing the way it pays medical providers for services, and Beebe’s office has said that work will continue.

“We want to know what those reforms look like,” said Baker, R-Conway.

Beebe has offered general details on parts of his budget proposal as the Legislature has moved closer to this year’s session. He has said he plans to ask the Legislature for an additional $2.7 million to help the state Forestry Commission stay solvent and to repay federal funds it had improperly used.

Citing a $4 million shortfall, the commission announced in December that it will lay off 36 employees. Those layoffs will take effect Friday.

This year’s fiscal session will be the second one under an amendment voters approved in 2008 requiring the Legislature to meet annually, rather than every other year. Any issue not related to the budget requires a two-thirds vote to be considered during the session, a rule intended to focus lawmakers on fiscal concerns.